1. Field of the Disclosure
This application relates to producing large composite structures, including towers. In one form, the towers are utilized to support a nacelle of a wind-powered turbine. In one form, a portion of the production of the tower is accomplished offsite, with final assembly accomplished onsite.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Composite materials are utilized to make a variety of structures, some quite large. Wind turbine towers are relatively large structures, typically up to about 20 ft. in bottom diameter and up to about 300 ft. in height (or higher). Such towers are generally made from metal alloys that are relatively heavy and expensive to manufacture. Also, such large structures are difficult to transport due to size restrictions associated with the transportation of objects over land. Therefore, it has been proposed to fabricate such towers in smaller sections and then transport and assemble such smaller sections onsite. Still, each section is relatively long and some such sections are too large in diameter for transportation. Towers made using composite materials or a combination of composite materials and metallic materials (a hybrid design) may offer viable alternatives to current all metallic towers. It may also be desirable to make other large structures, such as large storage tanks, using composite or hybrid materials.
The disclosure herein provides methods of making large structures utilizing composite or hybrid materials.